Social Change and Everyday Life in Ireland 1850–1922 (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Social Change and Everyday Life in Ireland 1850–1922 Margaret Preston Social Change and Everyday Life in Ireland 1850–1922, by Caitríona Clear, pp. 206, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007. Distributed by Palgrave-Macmillan. $24.95 (paper). Caitríona Clear states in her introduction that she put this manuscript together in order to fill gaps in scholarship regarding Irish daily life; before undergraduate students delve into complicated political, economic and religious topics, she believes they should be provided with a more general understanding of Irish social history. To that end, Clear employs many nontraditional sources to supply a voice to the common man and woman. In particular, this book offers students a more in-depth look at the daily lives of women—an area of Irish history that still has room for scholarship. Clear begins her discussion in the most likely place, on the farm where the majority of Irish people spent their time. Here, as in much of the volume, we [End Page 153] find a range of social and economic topics that include the less frequently asked, but no less important, questions about the texture of daily life. For example, at the turn of the century, how many horses were in Ireland and, from a social perspective, whose responsibility was it to take care of them? It seems that, by 1901, there were more than a half-million in the country. As it is commonly known that chickens were women's purview, one might presume that females would also be responsible for these animals that were usually stabled close to the home—but the care of these beasts was almost always "men's business." Clear's discussion of such obscure topics does well to provide the student with a more comprehensive understanding of Irish life. Horses are expensive; how many people could afford to own a horse? What did farmers use if they did not have a horse? In addition, the growing use of the horse on the farm also allows Clear to discuss the changing nature of farming and the improved technology during this age which increasingly made Irish life easier—particularly for those who could afford the new amenities. Clear stays mindful of the entry-level nature of her intended readership, and thus engages only infrequently with the many complex academic arguments. But she does, at times, seek to debunk theories with which she strongly disagrees. For example, in her chapter on emigration and migration, Clear addresses the traditional argument that women emigrated when they could not find a mate. She uses demographic statistics to show that those counties with high female emigration also saw comparatively young marriages; those counties with the greatest numbers of single women actually had low rates of emigration. She also warns readers not to presume that everyone wanted to get married, and suggests that, indeed, many women may have chosen not to get married. She encourages students to be open to the different shades of social change; in this instance, by considering that marriage and emigration may have been freely chosen, and not the result of compelling need or intense social pressure. To provide a glimpse into daily life, Social Change and Everyday Life in Ireland 1850–1922 covers a broad range of topics including education, medicine, non-agricultural employment, prostitution, marriage, and poverty. One of the strengths of this text is the nontraditional source material that Clear utilizes; these include folklore, seldom-consulted documents in Irish, and memoir. These reinforce Clear's ability to offer the reader insight into people's thoughts, inclinations, and perceptions of the world in which they lived. It must be said, though, that there are some conspicuous gaps in secondary sources. Granted, the book is aimed at undergraduates, and is relatively short, but it needs to supply a broader bibliography with a more diversified and up-to- date list of references. For example,Clear talks a great deal about poverty, particularly in Dublin, [End Page 154] but fails to cite Jacinta Prunty's work on Dublin's slum neighborhoods. Her discussion of Ireland's medical history could have offered more source material, including Margaret Ó hÓgartaigh's well-received recent work on...